Violence against abortion clinics escalated since overturning of Roe v. Wade, report finds

Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read
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Attacks on abortion providers, including arsons, burglaries and death threats, increased significantly in 2022, according to a new report, as advocates say violence has escalated since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

At a news conference Wednesday, Melissa Fowler, chief program officer at the National Abortion Federation, the U.S. professional association of abortion providers, called the increase in incidents an "organized campaign of harassment and violence against abortion providers."

“The data is proof of what we have known to be true: anti-abortion extremists have been emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the cascade of abortion bans that followed," Fowler said.

The federation released the report Thursday. The report includes data from after the U.S. Supreme Court last June struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion legal nationwide.

A front window is boarded up at the Planned Parenthood Health Center at 2709 Knoxville Avenue in Peoria, Ill., on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Peoria police and fire officials are investigating a fire at the Planned Parenthood clinic as arson, police said Tuesday. The incident occurred Sunday night, two days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law reproductive health care legislation to protect out-of-state abortion seekers.

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Abortion clinics face more burglaries, stalking incidents and arsons, report finds

Major findings include:

  • Burglaries targeting abortion clinics increased from 13 in 2021 to 43 in 2022.

  • Stalking incidents increased from 28 in 2021 to 92 in 2022.

  • Arsons doubled, increasing from two in 2021 to four in 2022.

  • There were 20 invasions in 2022, four more than in 2021.

  • There were four anthrax and bioterrorism threats in 2022. There were two in the previous 10 years combined.

  • Clinics and providers faced 218 death threats in 2022, up from 182 in 2021.

The federation has been tracking violence and threats against abortion clinics since 1977. In that time, there have been 11 murders, 42 bombings, 200 arsons, 531 assaults, 492 clinic invasions and 375 burglaries targeting abortion patients, providers and volunteers.

In March, USA TODAY interviewed staff members at abortion clinics nationwide that have faced violence from anti-abortion activists, including arson. Among them was Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyoming, where a devastating arson last May delayed the clinic's opening date by almost a year.

"This also caused great fear in our staff members, in the community," Burkhart said at a news conference Thursday, adding that anti-abortion protesters continue to come to the clinic each week.

An arson last May at Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyoming has delayed the reproductive health clinic's opening for at least a year.
An arson last May at Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyoming has delayed the reproductive health clinic's opening for at least a year.

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States with abortion rights protections see increases in violence

States where abortion remains legal saw a "disproportionate increase in violence" as anti-abortion activists "were emboldened (by the overturning of Roe v. Wade) and traveled to states where abortion remained legal to target clinics there," according to the report.

In states with laws protecting abortion access:

  • Assaults and batteries increased from seven in 2021 to nine in 2022.

  • Burglaries doubled from five in 2021 to 10 in 2022.

  • Stalking incidents increased from eight in 2021 to 81 in 2022.

  • There were seven bomb threats in 2022.

  • Picketing increased from 33,907 in 2021 to 40,863 in 2022.

The study defines "protective" states as ones classified as "very protective," "protective" or "some restrictions/protections" by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports legal access to abortion. Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado and Washington state are all "protective" states, for example.

Fowler said many people may be surprised incidents and threats of violence continue to rise, despite a spate of abortion clinic closures since Roe v. Wade was struck down. But she said that doesn't come as a surprise for those who have been tracking this violence.

"I think people assume that when that clinic closes, the protesters just go home and that ends," she said. "But that's not the case. … We know that anti-abortion individuals and groups will travel to other states or even move to other communities to target the clinics there."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abortion clinics face increasing violence since Roe v. Wade overturned